1. Field
The following description relates to neuromorphic chips and to methods and apparatus for detecting spike event or for transmitting spike event information of neurons of a neuromorphic chip.
2. Description of Related Art
A brain includes roughly 100 billion nerve cells, or neurons, that are interconnected with one another to form complex neural networks. Neurons are responsible for the intellectual capacity to learn and to memorize information. Neurons use their synapses to transmit and receive signals with thousands of other neurons. Neurons form a structural and functional unit of nervous system and a basic unit of information transmission. A synapse refers to a junction between neurons, in particular, between an axon of one neuron and a dendrite of another neuron. A neuron is connected to thousands of other neurons via synapses.
A neuromorphic chip refers to a semiconductor circuit that is designed to mimic an information processing scheme of a brain by forming, at a neuron level, an artificial nervous system mimicking the nervous system of a living organism.
A neuromorphic chip may be used in implementing an intelligent system that is capable of being adapted to an unspecified environment. This technology may be developed in applications of voice recognition, danger recognition, real-time fast signal processing, computers capable of recognition and estimation, robots, home appliances, micro mobile devices, security and monitoring, intelligent vehicle safety, autonomous navigation, and the like.
A communication channel is used to read a spike event occurring in a neuron included in a neuromorphic chip or to deliver event information to transmit the spike event to another neuron. An address event representation (AER) refers to a method of recording an address of a neuron in which a spike event has occurred, in a communication bus asynchronously with timing of a spike event occurrence.